Christmas Songs

You probably recognize the melody of England's "Greensleeves" as identical to the Christmas hymn, "What Child Is This?" Initially, Richard Jones was credited with writing "Greensleeves" in 1580, but some believe that King Henry VIII, rather than Jones, authored it.

Regardless of the true composer, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry's daughter, enjoyed dancing to it. This traditional song was also mentioned by William Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In 1865, three stanzas of the William Chatterton Dix poem "The Manger Throne" were set to the tune, giving birth to "What Child Is This?"